Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Following the death of Marcus Aurelius, his natural son Commodus
was elevated to emperor, and the Roman people shared a hope that the Golden Age
would continue. As the first natural son of a sitting emperor since Domitian,
Commodus would end up proving the theory that prudent adoption beats genetics.

This is the way Dio described what happened, “Our history
now descends from a kingdom of gold to one of iron and rust, as affairs for the
Romans of that day.”

From the very beginning Commodus cut an odd figure in his
behavior; timid and weak in disposition while becoming a slave to his
attendants. These traits caused him to delegate
the management of the empire to a series of lieutenants. What followed
logically, then, were conspiracies, and shortly after, attempts on his
life. In 182 A.D. an assassin employed
by Commodus’ sister Lucilla tried to stab him with a dagger and failed. The
experience unnerved Commodus and turned him into a paranoid personality. He refused
to appear in public and communications with him could only occur through
intermediaries. Chiefs of staff rose and fell from power one after the other – most
notably Perennis and then Cleander – as their behavior offended the people.
Following the death of the latter, Commodus became an unhinged megalomaniac,
demanding the Senate deify him and renaming Rome to Colonia Commodiana.

Oddly, it was the palace staff that decided to act against
him to save their own lives. The imperial chamberlain, commander of the
Praetorian Guard, and Commodus’s favorite concubine plotted his downfall in
secret. The concubine, Marcia, poisoned him one evening and when he vomited
instead of dying, she engaged a athlete to strangle him. Commodus' body was
secretly buried and the Senate informed of his death. The date was New Year's Eve 192 A.D.

The conspirators chose Publius Helvius Pertinax as the new
emperor. He was a self-made man who had experienced a meteoric rise from the
son of a slave to military commander. Consul in 175 A.D. and governor of Syria
in 180, Pertinax won over the Praetorians with a bonus of 12,000 sesterces each.
Too idealistic, Pertinax tried to right all of the wrongs of Commodus at once
and in doing so alienated all of Rome’s most important constituencies. In early
March there was a coup attempted but it was discovered. Then on March 28th,
300 soldiers attacked the emperor’s palace egged on by the Praetorians.
Pertinax tried to win over his adversaries with words but they killed him.

Now our story turns to the bizarre. After the assassination
of Pertinax, the praetorians returned to their camp and locked the gates. From
there they shouted for candidates to come forward and bid for the right to be
Caesar. Two men agreed to bid: Titus Flavius Sulpicianus, father of Pertinax’
wife, and Didius Julianus, a rich senator. Didius won the auction because he
offered a larger sum and he also convinced the Praetorians that Titus might
seek revenge if he were chosen.

This debasing of the Empire caused an immediate reaction
among the province commanders. At least three expressed their disgust and
declared their intension to assume the position of emperor: Clodius Albinus,
governor of Britain, Pescennius Niger, governor of Syria, and Septimius
Severus, governor of Upper Pannonia near the middle Danube. Severus had two
advantages over the others and they contributed to his eventual success: he was
closest to Rome and more aggressive. While Niger dawdled and Albinus was
content with a Severus offer of truce, the latter packed up his army and
marched to Rome, making the entire 800 mile journey in 40 days. Julianus’
execution was the first order of business after which Severus turned his
attention to the Praetorians. He ordered them to muster in a field outside the
city walls without weapons. They were surrounded by the Illyrian army with
spears pointed at them.

Severus spoke to them and reproached them for their crimes.
The Praetorians were stripped of their authority and told to relocate to points
no closer to Rome than 100 miles on fear of death. While the speech was being
delivered soldiers from Severus’ army took over the Praetorian camp and secured
their weapons to prevent any type of countermeasure.

Now with his ascendancy ratified by the assembly, Severus
went on a march to destroy his two competitors. By April of 194 A.D. he had
defeated and killed Niger. Turning his attention to Albinus, Severus moved west
and engaged him in a decisive battle near Lyon on February 19th 197.
Albinus committed suicide after his army was defeated.

Severus ruled for eighteen years while the day Didius Julianus
purchased the Roman Empire at auction faded from memory.